Transporting oil and apparatus useful therefor



Dec. 19, 1922. 1

' F. M. SEIBERT ET AL.

TRANSPORTING OIL, AND APPARATUS USEFUL THEREFOR.

FILED DEC. 17, 1919.

Q2 3 M M V 0 t j Patented Dec. 19, 1922.

UNIT D STATES,

P TENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. SEIBERT AND EDWARD T. GREGG, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, ASSIGNORS TO GULF I PIPE LINE COMPANY, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS, A CORPORATION .OF TEXAS.

.TRANSPORTING OIL AND APPARATUS USEFUL THEREFOR.

Application filed December li', 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK M. SEIBERT and EDWARD T. GREGG, citizens of the United States, and residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Transporting Oils and Apparatus Useful Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

and apparatus useful therefor; and it comprises as an improvement in the art of transportin petroleum oils through pipe lines a met 0d wherein gases and vapors escaping from oils in transit are vented through or past porous and pervious material adapted-to take up and retain the vapors of condensible hydrocarbons carried by such gases, said material from time to time being stripped of condensed hydrocarbons which may then be returned to the line, and it further comprises a'method in which casing head gasoline and other volatile liquids are mixed with crude .oil. so transported, loss of such volatile liquids in transit being avoided by the described expedient; and it still further comprises an improvement in pipe line apparatus comprising providing thegas vents of the line with. filters or like devices of pervious absorbent material, such devices being so connected with the line and with a stripping apparatus as to permit the device being cut out of circuit, stripped of condensed matter and once more placed in circuit; all as more fully here-.-

inafter set forth and as claimed.

Pipe lines for transporting crude oil are usually provided-with receiving and measuring tanks atintervals of forty miles or so;

there being a pair of these tanks at each station for alternately receiving and discharging oil. As the tank fills with oil, the air therein must find exit, while as it is emptied again, air must find entrance. In addition it is necessary to provide for a more or less irregular evolution of gases and vapors. from the oil itself. Crude petroleum oil, in addition 'to the readily volatile oils or hydrocarbons of. the nature of gasoline-which it contains, usually contains dis- This invention relates to transporting oils Serial No. 345,568.

solved gases; and these gases tend to separate more or less in transportation, taking with them more or less gasoline. It is usual to provide the receivlng and measuring tanks with breather pipes or bleeders; vent pipes connected to the top of the tank and extending some distance away. Through these breather pipes air escapes in filling the tank and air enters in emptying the tank, while they also take care of evolved gases and vapors. The function of these breather pipes is, of course, to maintain normal pressure in the receiving and measuring tanks. The evolution of gas and vapor from the oil itself is more or less irregular and much of it takes place in the tank itself. It is more copious when the tank is warmed by the sun than at other: times. The use of these vent pipes is responsible for the loss of considerable quantities -of gasoline from the oil in transit; and it is one of the objects of ,this invention to avoid this loss.

In the present invention in order to preventv loss of valuable volatile oils with escaping air and gases, the vent pipe is provided with a filter or chamber charged with granular adsorbent material which while offering no great frictional resistance to the back and forth passage of gases, is nevertheless adapted to abstract from it and hold any condensible hydrocarbons present. As such a material may be used the activated charcoals and coals employed in gas masks for military use, decolorizing carbons, p0-

rous silica, such as that produced by drying silica gelsfdried aluminum hydroxide, po-' of air, steam or gases, heating, etc., it is simple and advantageous to employ vacuum or suction, the vapors removed bythe suction being afterwards condensed by pressure and cooling or 1n any of the, other usual ways. Since the movement of gases through tion and development of heat to set in.

In a way the present device may be said to operate as a differential check valve on the line; a valve permitting free escape ot air and gas while holding back gasoline. The gasoline collected is simply returned to the body of oil in transit; and even crude oils high in gasoline may be transported without material loss of the gasoline. It 1s, further, possible to add more gasoline to the oil and utilize the present system in-the pipe line transportation of gasoline, gasoline being added to the crude oil at the receiving end and regained from it in the distillation of the oil at the other end; such distillation giving not only the gasoline naturally present but also that added. This gives opportunity for an important economy in transportation charges, pipe line transport being much cheaper than other ways of carrying oils. Because of the efiiciency with which gasoline can be kept in the system by the use of the present invention, it is possible to utilize pipe lines for the transport of'what is known as casing head gasoline; a highly volatile material regained from natural gas by various methods and diflicult of transportation by any other method. Its volatility is so great as to render it unsafe to transport it intank cars or the like unless blended with heavy oil at the point of shipment. Under the present invention it is simply mixed with the crude oil and the two sent through the pipe line together, being subsesequently separated by distillation. In so transporting it, it is incidentally Weathered; that is freed from dissolved gases; its contained gases being vented off with the gases of the crude oil. As casing head gasoline is recovered from natural gas it is full of dissolved gas and it is necessary to weather it to free it of thisgas.

In the accompanying illustration I have shown, more or less diagrammatically, certain apparatus within the purview of this invention and adapted for use in the performance of the described process.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic showing, not made to scale, of a pipe line with a tank and adsorbers in circuit and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section on a somewhat enlarged scale of a modified form of adsorber. I

or convenience of illustration, the various elements are shown out of plane; that is, the earth level is disregarded.

Referring to the drawings, element 1 indica-tes a storage and measuring tank having the surrounding levee 2. For convenience of illustration but one of the usual pair of tanks is shown. The tank receives oil through pipe 3 extending inside the tanlc and ending at a point near .the bottom thereof, and having the check valve 4 for the purpose of preventing back flow or syphoning of oil in event of a break in the line or when the pump is stopped. The line 3 may lead from a pump 5 which receives the oil either from a previous station or from the wells. Tank 1 is further provided with exit pipe line 6 leading to a pump 7 which delivers the oil from tank 1 to the next station along the route of the oil through the pipe line.

The construction previously outlined is substantially that usually employed at oil pumping stations by pipe lines and forms no part of my present invention except in so far as it operates in combination with the parts hereinafter described.

Leading from the storage and measuring tank 1 is a valved bleeder line 8 which is adapted to deliver vapors and gases to one or more of a plurality of adsorbers 9. \Vith the various valves open, a breather line open to the atmosphere is offered by the bleeder pipe through the adsorber, taking care of and obviating changes of pressure in the storage tank in filling and discharging or by atmospheric pressure changes. In event it is desired to pass escaping gases and vapors through the adsorbers in parallel, the valves 10 and 11 on line 8. are opened and the valves 12 and 13 on the lines 14 and 15, respectively, are opened, the waste gases escaping to the air or being usedas fuel as the case may be, while the vapors are held back by the adsorbers. Should it be desired to run the adsorbers in series, the valve 11- on the line leading to the second adsorber is closed and the valve 10 leading to the first adsorber is opened whereupon the vapors and gases pass through the first adsorber 9 and thence through the line 16. valve 17 thereon being opened, and thence upwardly through the second adsorber 9, waste gases escaping through 15.

When it is desired to run one adsorber at a time, which is advantageous when a charged adsorber is to be stripped as will hereinafter be pointed out, the first adsorber 9 may be in direct communication with line 8, valves 10 and 12 being opened, while the second adsorber may be in communication with apparatus for stripping it.

When any adsorber, or all of them, are charged or when evolution of gases and vapors from the oil in tank 1 temporarily ceases and it is desired to recover the ad-.

sorbed gases and vapors, suction pump 18 may be used. This pump is in communication with the adsorbers through line19 and it may draw vapors and gases from the first adsorber 9 alone when valve 20 is opened or from the second adsorber alone when valve 21 is opened and valve 20 is closed, or; it may withdraw gases and vapors from both adsorbers simultaneously when valves 20 and 21 are opened.

Should it be desired to use an agent forstripping agent may be sent throughline 24 to either, or simultaneously to both, of the adsorbers as the case may be, the valves 25 and 26 being suitably adjusted as will read ily appear. The diagrammatically shown pump 22 may indicate a source of stripping agent and the suction pump' 18 may be relied upon for the purpose of drawing the stripping; agent from the adsorbers as described. Steam maly be used, being admitted through valved pipe 22. In case of ignition in the adsorbers this steam may be used for quenching.

The vapors and gases stripped from the adsorbers may be compressed in any known device or they may be sent under the pressure of pump 18 to the condenser 27 which is the ordinary condenser tub having inlet '28 and outlet 29 for cold water and hav 1 ing therein the coiled cooling pipe 30. Condensed liquid is then sent through pipe 31 to join the main supply of crude oil through connection 32 if desired or it may be separatel sent to the tank 1 through line 33 provi ed with the check valve 34 to prevent back flow and syphoning in event of breakage of the line or stoppage 'ofthe pump 18.

The adsorbers 9 are rovided with any desired means for holdlng the adsorbing material insuch position that the gases passing and vapors from the tank 1 may pass in effic T the breather function of the apparatus.

cient contact with it without too much friction. Any substantial degree of frictional resistance to passage of gases interferes with I have shown aplurality of staggered shelves- 35 for holding granular. adsorbent materials. Referring to Figure 2, it illustrates more 'or' less diagrammatically a, modified form of adsorber which I may use. This. ad-

' sorber comprises a casing 36 having removable heads 37 and a plurality of staggered partitions 38 arranged in the casing so that the gases and vapors which pass therethrough shall take a circuitous-course.- The gases and vapors may be admitted through inlet 39 and removed throughoutlet 40. I may use a plurality of such modified adsorbers as shownin Figure 2 in the place of adsorb'er 9 diagrammatically shown in Figure1.

It is to be understood that the drawing accompanying this application is purely dia-- grammatic. The tank.. 1 may" readily be a still in which event I should take from the condenser in communication with such still the vapors and gases not condensed by that particular condenser and treat them in the manner described. The material thus recovered may be supplied to the still or reserved for use itself or be blended with other materials. a

' The operation of the system is obvious from the foregoing description. lVhen I use air or gas as my stripping agent I adof gases and vapors which comprises ven't- 5 ing off said gases and vapors through a chamber containing adsorbent pervious ma-' terial, stripping adsorbed volatile oils from the pervious material from\time to time and returning the volatile oils to the oil whence they came. V

2. In the transportation and, storage of petroleum oils the process of preventing loss ofvolatile oils while maintaining normal atmospheric pressure and permitting escape of gases and vapors which comprises venting off said gases and vapors through a chamber containing adsorbent pervious material, and stripping said material of adsorbed oils from time to time by exposure to suction. i

3. In the transportation and storage of petroleum oils the process of transporting volatile oils of the nature of gasoline through pipe lines which comprises mixing said gasoline with crude oiland passing the mixture through a pipe line provided with gas vents carrying adsorbent porous material.

4 4. An oil pipe line system provided with breathing devices for venting ofl' gases,the

breathing devices being in communication with the atmosphe e and provided with chambers ,charged with adsorbent material adapted to abstract and retain volatile oils .while allowing gases to go on.

5. An oil pipe line system provided with breathing devices for venting oflf gases, the breathing devices being in communication with the atmosphereand provided with chambers charged with adsorbent material 6-. An oil pipe line systemcomprising receiving and-measuring tanks provided with breathing devices for equalizing pressure materials of adsorbed oils, and means for thereln, said breathlng' devices being in comreturning the 011s so stripped to the tanks.

munication with the atmosphere and pro- In testimony whereof We hereunto -afhx 10 vided with chambers charged with adsorbent our signatures. 5 material adapted to abstract and retain va- FRANK M. SEIBERT.

pors of volatile oils by allowing the gases EDWARD T,- GREGG.

to go on, means for stripping the adsorbent 

